In a previous post, I covered the signs to reading your dog’s tail language. Today I want to cover a few more facts about tails that may help you to understand your dog’s behavior.

A dog’s primary purpose for a tail is balance. A tail helps a dog balance when running, turning quickly, or just having a good time playing with other pups.

It’s in the Wind

Most of us have seen other dogs smell the back ends of each other in greeting. This is because dogs have anal scent glands that are unique to them. It identifies them to other dogs like a scented calling card.

Dogs will wag this scent around in the air spreading the scent from the anal glandes into the air by way of a wagging tail. A dominant dog may carry his tail high releasing his scent where ever he goes. On the flip side of that a submissive or shy dog may hold his tail low to hide his scent.

The Tail-less Dog

Not all dogs have tails so they communicate with other body language signs. A tail-less dog may use more caution in approaching a new dog than one with a tail to avoid conflict. Puppies who haven’t learned how to read tail signs yet or don’t understand the signs of tail-less dog might not back down from provoking play. Supervised play is always cautioned with puppies. An active puppy may cause a tail-less dog to act out in biting or aggressive moves.

Thanks for barking along with us and don’t forget to post your puppy dog tails on our Facebook page!